ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� The firing of a Georgia teacher who read a book on gender fluidity to her fifth grade class was upheld Thursday by the Georgia Board of Education.
Katie Rinderle had been a teacher for 10 years when she got into trouble in March for reading the picture book 鈥淢y Shadow Is Purple鈥� by Scott Stuart at Due West Elementary School, after which some parents complained.
The case in suburban Atlanta's Cobb County drew wide attention as a test of what public school teachers can teach in class, how much a school system can control teachers and whether parents can veto instruction they dislike. It also came amid a nationwide conservative backlash to in school.
Rinderle has maintained that the book was about inclusivity. in August, and filed an appeal the next month.
At their meeting Thursday, the state board voted unanimously to affirm the Cobb County School Board鈥檚 decision without discussing it, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cobb County adopted a rule barring teaching on controversial issues in 2022, after Georgia lawmakers barring the teaching of 鈥渄ivisive concepts鈥� and creating a parents鈥� bill of rights. Rinderle's attorneys said a prohibition of 鈥渃ontroversial issues鈥� is so vague that teachers can never be sure what鈥檚 banned.
In its 21-page review, the board found that Cobb County鈥檚 policies are not 鈥渦nconstitutionally vague,鈥� and that her firing was not a 鈥減redetermined outcome.鈥�
Georgia law gives either Rinderle or the school district 30 days to appeal the decision in Cobb County Superior Court.
Meanwhile, Rinderle and the Georgia Association of Educators are suing the district and its leaders for discrimination related to her firing. The filed last week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, alleges that the plaintiffs 鈥渉ave been terminated or fear discipline under (Cobb鈥檚) vague censorship policies for actively and openly supporting their LGBTQ students.鈥�
In the months since Rinderle was fired, the Cobb County School District has removed books it has deemed to be sexually explicit from its libraries, spurring debate about what power the district has to make those decisions. Marietta City Schools took similar steps.
This year鈥檚 ongoing legislative session has brought with it a that seek to cull sexually explicit books from schools, ban sex education for younger students, display the Ten Commandments in classrooms and allow religious chaplains to counsel teachers and students.
The Associated Press
